Related technical fields includes spot coating systems and methods.
Graphic professionals generally use spot varnishes or coatings to emphasize graphical elements in high-end collaterals. For example, a catalog might include pictures of a product on the page with a spot varnished and/or coating applied only on the product pictures. This imparts a higher gloss just to the pictures that gives them added visual impact on the viewer.
Further, by using a coating, for example, bindery (off-press) coatings, such as ultraviolet coating (UV coating) over an image and/or printed piece, the UV coating can be used, for example, as a spot covering to accent a particular image on the sheet or as an overall coating (flood coating). The UV coating may protect the printed piece by providing, for example, an additional covering which protects the ink from scuffing. In addition, the UV coating may, for example, draw the reader's eyes to particular items and to add depth and interest to the printed piece or image.
In traditional lithographic offset printing, spot coatings are often applied in a separate unit on the press. For example, cyan, magenta, yellow and black might be printed with the first four units of the press. A spot coating, for example, might be applied with the fifth unit, with a printing plate, for example, which allows the coating to be applied in the same manner as one of the color inks.